Fund-Raising Drum Circle Workshops
with Renzo Spiteri
On
Saturday, 18 January, 2003, percussionist Renzo Spiteri
(picture by Gaby Giacchino)
will be leading a new set of
ten one-hour drum circle workshops for adults at St. James Cavalier. The
participants will be playing the “djembe”, a traditional West African drum.
Participants can choose between two groups, one starting at 10.00am and the
other at 11.15am.
All proceeds from these workshops are in aid of the local Third World Group. The whole course costs Lm25 and places are limited.
These drum circle workshops are being organized by the "Ritmi" team of the Third World Group, with the support of the St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity and L-Arka, the only fair trade shop in Malta. L-Arka, at 306, St. Paul's Street, Valletta, is run by a cooperative of volunteers that was set up by the Third World Group in 1996. In April, 2002, the "Ritmi" team organized the three-week visit of Senegalese percussionist Moussé Ndiaye to Malta. Ndiaye and Renzo Spiteri gave three fund-raising concerts to packed houses in a first-ever African-Maltese percussion collaboration in Malta together with Andre Micallef on bass and Jesmond Psaila on guitar at the MITP theatre in Valletta.
Renzo Spiteri has years of experience as a performer and educator in Malta and abroad. He studied drums and percussion under Charles Gatt at the Johan Strauss School of Music and Jazz Improvisation under Paul Abela. In 1998, he graduated, with Honours, from the University of Malta, with a thesis about “The Role of Percussion in West African Societies”.
Between
1998 and 2000, Renzo Spiteri studied and played in Milan, collaborating with
musicians in the jazz, fusion and classical fields. During this period he
studied percussion classical repertoire with Prof. Gabriele Bianchi, first
percussion player at the Teatro alla Scala. He furthered his studies in jazz
improvisation at the Milano Jazz School and the CEP Institute of Music and
studied privately with Brazilian percussion player Gilson.
Renzo
Spiteri leads his own latin jazz group and is the founder and director of
the percussion ensemble The Katambù Sound Factory (in
picture).
Renzo Spiteri's drum circle workshops have proved very popular. According to Alfred Sant Fournier, who attended the first cycle held in October 2001, "Renzo has managed to convey his love of percussion to each one of us. Besides giving us the very basics of circle/group drumming, he has also introduced us to drumming as a creative expression. The sessions are very informative and each participant has the opportunity to try different rhythms and styles of drumming individually and with the rest of the group. The African djembe drum does lend itself as a very versatile drum."
The "djembe" is a goblet shaped hand drum, skinned with goat or antelope. Likely to have originated among the Malinke peoples of West Africa, the djembe has a very wide sound spectrum which generates a great richness in pitch. The open mouth shape of the barrel is believed to have come from the traditional grain grinder.
According
to Renzo Spiteri, these workshops are “mainly intended for those people who
would like to lay their hands on an ethnic drum and discover music and
rhythm for the first time. But they are also intended for those who would
like to share the experience of playing ethnic drums, mainly djembes, in a
group format.”
No musical knowledge
is required for these sessions since they are intended for beginners.
The Third World Group is an established non-governmental voluntary organization that has been actively committed towards poor and disadvantaged people since 1974. In 1997 the Government of Malta acknowledged its contribution to society by awarding it the prize known as “National Recognition – Youth in Society”.
Those who would like to book for the course are to phone immediately on 2137 6941 or 21244865 (L-Arka) or send a message to ritmi@maltaforum.org. Cheques for Lm25 made out to the “Third World Group – Ritmi Project” are to be sent to L-Arka, 306, St. Paul's Street, Valletta.
Adrian Grima
26 December, 2002
